Their Worst Fear
by Redonkadonk
Summary: (Rating T/eventual M) The brutal past of the pizzeria heard in whispers and rumors comes to life, as the events that unfold changes the lives of many families and sparks terror that reaches over three decades. (IN HIATUS)
1. Prologue - 1995

"Do those names sound familiar to you at all?"

The bright colors that made up the room did nothing to ease the coldness in the man's chest. He'd been coming here for months, yet no progress had been made in why he was acting so strange. His girlfriend bitched about how ever since he'd taken a new night job at a mall, he'd reverted to the same shy silence that she'd known him for back in her high school years.

She didn't count on him cracking and bursting into a tearful nervous fit over malfunctioning animatronics. Animatronics that didn't even exist at the job he had now.

She insisted on therapy, or else she would leave him. Thinking back now, he wished he'd just broken up with her right then and there, but regardless, he agreed to therapy to fix... whatever this was. Instead he was getting barraged with a list of names he'd never known before.

"For the last time, I don't know those names! We've been through this before, I just want to get some help with these fucking hallucinations!"

"I understand that you're having a hard time with these visions," the therapist cooly said, leaning back in his big leather chair, "but unless you work with me on this, I won't be able to help you clear up the fog that currently blocks your mind."

The man groaned and placed his head in his hands. This was bullshit, he said to himself. He took that job at that family joint back in 1993, and two years later, when he finally felt great enough to go back to night shift, all mental hell breaks loose. Shadows in the corners seemed to grow and contort into twisted forms. Odd sounds grew louder and more threatening as he patrolled the mall.

But worst of all were the hallucinations.

He knew they weren't really there. He KNEW it in his bones. But still, as if they were in the same room with him, as if he were back in that small, dark security office... He saw those mechanical abominations rush at him with intent to hurt him. To kill him.

He was supposed to be done with that shit. But no, here he was with this old guy that acted like he knew what he was going through. It pissed him off to no end.

"I'm sorry, but I don't get _why_ I need to know those names. I don't know them, so WHY are you bringing them up like they pertain to me somehow?!"

"... How much were you told of the pizzeria's history, Mike?"

"Huh?"

"Its' history, Mr. Schmidt. How much were you told about it?"

"Uhh..." The question certainly threw him for a loop. What did he know? All he knew was that those damn animatronics were murderous shits that made every night a living hell for him. Quirky my ass, he scoffed. Quirky enough to brutally damage a child and cause the loss of their brain's frontal lobe! "Well... I know there was an incident in '87 where a kid got hurt by one of the animatronics, but that's really about it..."

"Then you don't know about it being supposedly haunted?"

Mike's face took on a look of shock, before morphing into that of disbelief. "I- fucking christ, don't tell me you actually think- Haunted? You actually think that place is HAUNTED?"

The therapist merely shrugged. "It was a rumor that I'd heard from my niece a while back. She used to work there back in the 1980's, and told me one night while remembering her younger days that the place gained a reputation for being haunted before it closed back then."

"But do you actually believe it? You're supposed to be the sane one here, not me! You can't honestly believe that that place was haunted by something, right?"

"I can't say for sure... But I do know that there's far worse that happened there than just the 1987 incident."

"How do you know for sure?"

"Believe me when I say this; you know the fear of tricks of the mind, but there are those out there that know a much worse fear."

"But they weren't-"

"And until you learn what that fear is, we will be unable to progress. But you must be willing to open your mind, willing to understand that the events of the past can definitely affect you now, even without you having the slightest idea."

* * *

 _Author's Notes: EYYYY. So I'll admit, the last thing I planned on writing was a FNAF fic. (Go ahead and look at my fic history on here; it'll tell you that I'm the least equipped for this job.) And yet, here I am, writing this... thing. But unfortunately, my first time with ordering and drinking alcohol (praise be to margaritas!) wound up kickstarting an odd thought process in which I wanted to read a fic that I don't know if it exists. I could wade through all the shipping fics, but I'd rather not, and even if I wanted to, it's kind-of impossible. Because character filters are stupid._

 _Part of this is inspired by a picture I saw long ago through my knee-deep exposure to it on Tumblr, and unfortunately I don't know who did it or how to find it again, so hey, let's just make our own shit, right? But at the same time, I don't know how long this will run, or if it will be liked at all (because this chapter is shorter than any other starting chapter/one-shot I've done before? UM), so I'll leave that up to you guys as to whether you'll like it or not. Mind you, I'm not active in the fandom at all (I managed to watch most of Markiplier's LPs on the games save for FNAF2, which I skipped because for some reason I just did not watch it; all I know is Balloon Boy is a dick, and that Mark needs to punch him 10x more than usual), so a lot of what may happen or be canonically correct is gleaned straight from the FNAF Wiki and TV Tropes because I CAN'T LEAVE THAT SITE ALONE GUYS. HALP.)_

 _But that's all aside. If you liked this small bit, leave a review, show some love, and maybe I can keep this going? I can't guarantee a regular update schedule if I do continue it (it'd make three full stories I'm working on), but that doesn't mean I can't multitask, so I can at least try my best!_


	2. Intro - Early 1987

_Author's Notes: Ch. 2 coming up a lot quicker than I planned. for anyone that plans on continuing reading this, here's a forewarning that this will usually predate most chapters, whether I need to explain anything or answer any questions. For now, I'll explain a few things following up from the first chapter._

 _Ch. 2 marks a change in POV from what I originally wanted to do; I wanted to have the therapist recount what happened as he saw it, but I have a different idea set up for him later. Instead we're looking at this from an omnipresent view where we see and know most every character's thoughts and feelings. I'm also trying to iron out a few wrinkles that might appear in the storyline, so if something doesn't sound right, don't worry, I'll fix it later. This will be hard given the topics that I'm working with (ayyyy fuck off Scot Cawthon for your difficult storyline), but I will attempt to make coherent storyline from everything._

 _This chapter will also get some of the characters out of the way, hence why it's longer than the first one. But hopefully I can get into more comfortable writing process with this story, and get chapters out regularly as my schedule will allow. (God I wish I had a normal job. Games like this should remind you that night-shift jobs are shit and shouldn't exist.) But that's all for now, so please, enjoy the story!_

* * *

"And now for tonight's top story. The disappearance of a young boy has thrown the town of (N/A) in panic, with many fearful parents calling for action from the local police force. This marks the second incident this year, with the disappearance of two siblings having already thrown the town into fear for their own kids' safety. Authorities are looking for any information on the whereabouts of-" *click*

Three kids were missing. Parents were distraught with worry. The town was filled with an unmistakeable tension. It was only February of 1987 at this point, and Jackson Statham could tell it was like a ice-cold wet blanket had been tossed onto the whole town. Well, it was the best way he could describe it. He was only 10 years old now, but his parents believed he was far more mature than most kids his age.

It would've been true if he weren't constantly laughing at gross jokes his friend David would make. They'd been friends since early preschool, and were inseparable ever since. But nonetheless, his mom and dad treated David and Jackson's other friends as if they were their own. Tonight they sat in the cozy basement of Jackson's house watching TV. Or they were watching it, until his mom came in and turned the TV off.

"Boys, it's time for bed. You've both got a very important day tomorrow!" Mrs. Statham stood beside the stairs to the main floor, wearing her light blue bathrobe and slippers. The boys groaned audibly, with Jackson turning on the couch to stand on his knees in the cushion.

"But Mom, you said we could stay up and watch TV 'til 11 tonight if we did our homework!" Jackson looked a great deal like his mother, with dark blonde hair that curled out every which-way and brown eyes that his dad likened to milk chocolate. However, unlike his mom's tanned appearance, he was just as white as his dad, and just as prone to sunburn in the summertime.

The sound of footsteps down the stairs came to a halt as a redhead peeked out from behind the mom's robe. "If you get to stay up, I should too!" It was Robin, Jackson's little sister. Somehow she inherited their dad's straight red hair and their mom's tan skin, leading to many kids wondering if they're even related, but they shared the same dark eyes. "Right, Mom? Please, please, please, please!"

Mrs. Statham only laughed as she bent down and ran a hand through Robin's hair. "Now I thought I told you that you needed to be in bed, little missy! You've got school in the morning, and I can't have you falling asleep in class again." She playfully pinched Robin's cheek and turned to the boys, who now looked at her expectantly. "And I do believe that you two have a field trip tomorrow, right?"

"Well yeah," David said, shrugging, "but it's only to the space museum. We can sleep on the way there if we're tired!

"Besides," Jackson added, "everyone knows that's not the best part of the trip. At lunch we get to go to Freddy's and play! We'll get to play the arcade games, and eat pizza, and see Freddy and the gang and-"

"Aww, I wanna go!" Robin pouted and turned back to her mom. "Mom can I go with them? I wanna go see Freddy and the others! Please please!"

"Robin, you have a birthday to go to in five days," their mom said cooly. "I'm sure they're going to Freddy's for the party!"

"But I wanna go with Jackson tomorrow!"

"You can't, squirt! The field trip's only for fourth graders, not second graders." Jackson sat on top of the couch's backrest. "But if you want, I can try and win a doll from one of the claw games for you?"

"Would you?" Robin ran over to her brother on the couch and hopped to climb on top of the back rest. "Would you really?"

"Ehhhh, I might," Jackson sighed, looking away "... if you give me back my signed baseball you took the other night!" One glance towards a teary-eyed Robin made Jackson quickly change him mind. "Nah, I'll get you one, I promise! I'll get you the best Freddy doll I can find!"

"Yay! Thanks, Jackson, you're the best!" Robin hugged her brother so quickly that the movement of the two sent them falling back down onto the seats of the couch. She planted a candy-sticky kiss on Jackson's cheek as she hopped off the couch and ran around back towards and up the stairs.

"Ewww," Jackson groaned, trying to wipe the sticky mess off his face.

"Bed, boys!" The sound of his mom still by the doorway signaled to the boys that their night was over. They groaned in response and both got up from the couch, sullking towards the door in mock defeat. Mrs. Statham ruffled her son's hair as he passed up the stairs and turned the lights off before following behind them.

* * *

"You really think you can get Robin a Freddy doll? Those claw machines are hard to work, even for the high school kids!" David Tate Lewis sat beside Jackson as the bus carrying the fourth graders headed towards the downtown area. Dark-skinned and lanky, he was one of the taller few of the class, already making a name for him in sports. Born to American parents then living in Egypt, he moved shortly before starting preschool, and soon became friends with Jackson. Much like Jackson's mom, David's mom was equally welcoming of her son's friends, and enjoyed telling them stories of their work back in Egypt.

"I ain't too worried about it," Jackson replied, doodling on a piece of paper despite the bumps the bus would drive over. "All I gotta do is win enough tickets on the games to buy one at the prize stand."

"And if you don't?"

"Uhh..." Jackson's pencil stopped moving. Surely it wouldn't be that hard to win a stupid doll, right? Just win a few games, get a lot of tickets, then just exchange them for a doll. It's not that hard.

"Awww, Jack's gonna get a present for his lil' sister!" The voice behind them piped up loudly, causing both the boys' heads to turn. A girl's head popped up behind the seat, her wild brown hair falling around her head in long curls; beside her, another boy appeared, his short black hair jutting out in odd spikes. "I bet she'd follow you around for ages if she lost that doll!"

"Hi, Rebecca," David muttered. Rebecca Mountford was a girly-girl in appearance, but oh boy did she have a rough streak. She often got in trouble for trying to rough-house with one of the boys, but she didn't care. Rebecca was tough as nails, and she knew it! Despite that, she had a knack for being nosy, and her nosy-ness wound up bringing her into Jackson's group of friends in the second grade when she tried to prod him about where his mom was getting the really good treats for Halloween. ("They're just from the grocery store!" Jackson had cried out, scaring the bejeezus out of Rebecca when most of the time her targets would just ignore her.) It also wound up sparking a massive crush on Jackson that Rebecca had been hiding somewhat well for her age. "I could've sworn you were sitting closer towards the back of the bus earlier..."

"It gets too cold back there, and my jacket's not doing too great with keeping me warm," Rebecca retorted. Of course, she wouldn't tell you that it was really just to sit closer to Jackson, but that's far beside the point. "But I bet you'll be able to get a doll for her in no time flat! If not, I bet Tatum can help out!"

The boy beside her raised his head up suddenly and looked at her with a lifted eyebrow. "Excuse me? Who said I was helping with anything?" Tatum Rains was the youngest of the group, only half a year younger than Rebecca, but led the fourth graders in class ranking based on their grades, which led to being bullied by some of the meaner kids. Having only joined their school over a year ago, Tatum took to the group through helping David on a science test he was worried he'd fail epically. The day afterwards, David and Rebecca managed to find Tatum while he was hiding from one of the bullies, and calmed him down long enough to find out about his trouble. From then on, he'd been part of the gang, and went from terribly shy to showing a oddly snarky side in later times.

"Oh come on, Tatum, you'd love to make some kind little girl happy, right?" Rebecca poked him in the shoulder. "You should help out. We all should!"

Jackson shook his head. "There's no need for that. I can get the doll on my own! But thanks for offering to help."

"But we'd be able to get enough tickets in no time," Rebecca whined.

Tatum laughed. "I'm sure Jack can get enough tickets himself to get a really good one. Which one do you have your eye on?"

Jackson scratched his head. "I don't know... Do they still have those big ones that can take up a whole chair?"

"Ohhh no, you're not fitting that big of a doll into our seat," David protested. "It's not gonna fit and I'm not giving up my seat for it!"

"Good point," Jackson laughed, finding the idea of a doll like that sitting in either of their seats pretty funny. "I guess I'd have to see what kinds they have." The bus pulled into the parking lot of the establishment known as Freddy Fazbear's Pizza. Jackson had long been familiar with the pizzeria for years, practically having every birthday party there as long as he could remember up until just last year when he was sick with the flu the day of his party. He'd grown to love every aspect of it, but most of all he loved the animatronics. His favorite was Freddy, the lead singer of the band that played every hour. A big brown bear with blue eyes and a black top hat, lots of kids loved Freddy as their favorite. Even Robin did, as when the animatronic would roam the floor, she'd often latch onto his legs chanting his name. Heck, even Jackson did that when he was younger, and when they had his birthday party, he loved for Freddy to be the one to sing "Happy Birthday" to him.

He missed those days. But unfortunately, with the turn of his 11th birthday this year, he'd fallen past the age where they would usually have birthday parties for kids, and he wouldn't admit it, but at some point, having Happy Birthday sung to you by a robot in a bear suit just didn't seem cool anymore. Jackson hated to admit it, but the love he had for Freddy and the animatronics -for the whole place even- had started to seem like something he should be hiding now. Even his grandparents had admitted that since he's growing up now, he should be acting like it instead of wanting to eat at such a childish place every year.

"Jackson!" The sound of David calling his name knocked Jackson out of his thoughts. "You gonna get up from your seat any day now, or are you just gonna sit like a log and do nothing?"


	3. The Freddy Doll - Early 1987

_Author's Notes: So I didn't keep up with my schedule as well as I'd hoped. Oops. I got stuck trying to figure out how I wanted part of it to go, but I realized if I spent too long on character development rather than storyline development, then I have an uneven storyline that sucks. SO NOW, WE MOVE FORWARD._

 _Also, about that one review. The one review. The only review. ;_; All self-made jabs at the lack of interest aside, I understand that the usual path for FNAF-fics includes talking, sentient animatronics that are all buddy-buddy with the security guards. I apologize beforehand, but I don't think this isn't going to be one of them. Considering what happens, it doesn't seem all that fitting to put that in. But the animatronics will be featured, but less as actual characters. I'll get to that later, even thought this fic drowns in activity compared to the other ongoing fic I've got going._

* * *

Inside the pizzeria, children squealed with delight at the food and games, and the bright lights flashed and shined illuminating the bright colors of their surroundings. Game screens whirred and music played as the kids ran around having fun, but one could find at the skeeball machines that Jackson was in fact not having fun.

"WHY AREN'T YOU WORKING?!" He kicked the machine in frustration. Normally, Jackson had great luck with playing the skeeball machines, but today luck was not on his side. The machine had eaten over half of his tokens, but refused to play or start the game. Rather than move to a working one, the boy thought it wise to just keep sticking tokens in. Looking back, now he knew that wasn't wise, and was horrified that he now had only nine tokens left to play games, and all the good games that he could win lots of tickets on always take like 2 or 3 tokens, and a few tries to learn the game's play style. He gave up on the skeeball machine and went to take a seat on one of the benches that lined the walls of the playroom. He looked at each of the games and tried to figure out which ones would give him the optimal amount of tickets for a doll. Hungry Hungry Hippos? Nah, they're weak in the ticket prize. Whack-a-Fox? Ticket prize is weak and it malfunctions, according to the child crying by it while it flashed a high score but spit out no tickets.

He didn't seem to find anything worthwhile until he spied the claw machine in the corner. Taking up the space of a wide window, its lights shined on the assortment of toys that filled its container. And sitting right in his line of view was a medium-sized plush toy of Freddy himself! Jackson got up and ran to the machine, looking at the price on the side of the machine. It would need three tokens to play, and he had ten. "Alright," he said, putting his token into the slot to play and readying himself on the controls for the claw. The game started, and he guided the claw over to its position right above the Freddy plush. Pressing the button to grab, the claw opened as it lowered itself above the toy and closed around it. "I got it.. Now I just-" He stopped short as the claw lifted into the air, taking the toy with it part of the way before dropping it into a lower part of the pile of toys. Jackson groaned as the claw returned back to its starting position and the game shut off, giving off a sound of failure.

Frustrated but undeterred, Jackson slid in three more tokens, and played the game once more. He managed to get the toy back out of the dip, but it caught on a leg of another toy and fell out of the claw's grasp. He grew more agitated and popped his knuckles as he slid in three more tokens. The game started back up and he moved the claw back into that prime position right over the toy. It went down and clamped over the toy, then raised back up and over to the prize chute, taking the toy with it. Jackson cried out in glee at his win, but stopped short as the claw prematurely released the toy back onto the pile of toys and returned back as the game shut off. He groaned loud enough that some of the kids looked back at him, but hung his head and sulked to a nearby bench, placing his head on one of his hands. He'd spent all of his tickets just trying to win one doll, ONE measly little doll, and he couldn't even do that! He lamented having to back to his house, having to face Robin with that sad little face and hearing her cry that the big brother didn't win her a-

"Are you okay, little dude?" Jackson lifted his head to face an older man, close to his 20s, looking down at him. He wore a brown leather jacket over a grey shirt and faded blue jeans, with a pair of navy Adidas on his feet. His shaggy brown hair laid over pale eyes, but on his face sat a kind smile. Jackson was a bit unnerved at this guy's appearance; where did he come from?

"Y-yeah, I'm alright..." Jackson said uneasily. He rubbed his face, but glanced around the room. No one was watching them, not a single eye from a child or employee was on them... He wasn't sure if he needed to run or yell for an employee to come and-

"I saw you trying to get that Freddy doll in the claw machine. Did you run out of tokens?"

Jackson's attention snapped back to the man in front of him. He'd been watching him? There's no way this was okay! No way at all! ... But he wasn't really doing anything wrong, was he?

"... Yeah, I did..." Jackson shifted in his seat. "I was trying to win it for someone..."

"Do you want me to get it for you?"

He shook his head. "You don't have to do that... I can just get her one from the store.."

"For your girlfriend?"

"N-no!" Jackson shook his head furiously. "It's for my sister! I just promised to get her one while I-"

"It's okay, I didn't mean to embarrass you." The guy walked over to the claw machine and slipped a hand into his pocket, pulling out a handful of tokens. He took three of them and slid them into the token slot, starting the game. Jackson watched as the guy guided the claw to the toy and latched onto it, finally bringing it back over and releasing it into the prize chute. The guy bent down and pulled the toy out of the chute and presented it to Jackson, who sat with a confused look on his face.

"You... didn't have to win it for me..."

"It's alright, I know how hard that game can be. I had trouble with it when I was younger." The guy sat down beside Jackson on the bench, who took the doll in his hands and looked it over. With fuzzy brown fur and blue eyes, the doll was a spitting image of the Freddy that Jackson had grown up loving. His black bow-tie sat a little crookedly, but the boy thought it gave the doll some character. "I'm sure your little sis will love that doll."

"She will," Jackson said, sitting it in his lap. "Thanks for getting it, I guess... Do you work here?"

"Nah, I just moved here." The guy ran a hand through his hair. "I'm just job-searching for right now. I figured I'd stop by here since I hadn't been in a while. You here with friends?"

"Classmates. We stopped here for lunch after our field trip.. Went to a space museum that was pretty neat."

"The one downtown? I had no idea it was still open... Time sure flies when you leave town.."

"Why'd you leave?" Jackson hated that he was talking to someone he didn't know; his mom always warned him and Robin about strangers, especially after the Adam Walsh case rocked the US back in 1981. But he figured it'd be rude to ignore him after he spent his tokens getting the doll for him.

"College. It was a total bust, so I moved back here earlier this month." The guy sat lazily with his arms draped over the back of the bench. He took in the sights of the playroom with nostalgia; admittedly, the designs on the wall were very outdated, hearkening back to the establishment's beginnings in the 1970s.

"I see.." Jackson looked around. To him, the colors of the playroom were as welcoming as his own home; warm and inviting with the smell of food floating around.

"What's your name, little dude?"

Jackson turned back to face the man, still a little nervous talking to him. But he'd been nice so far... It'd be rude to not answer him now... He tried to look the man in the eyes; he still had that kind smile on, but his eyes looked distant.

"Here, I'll even tell you my name, if it makes you feel better."

"Your name...?"

Jeremy. His name was Jeremy.

* * *

The afternoon sun was beginning to set past the horizon as David's mom dropped Jackson off at his house. He held the Freddy doll under his arm; the kids had snickered at him holding it as they boarded the bus, but his friends cheered for him getting the doll. He didn't tell them that *he* didn't get the doll. But he was glad that Robin was going to get a doll after all. She'd be so happy, and he knew Mom would be glad to know he didn't exactly let her down.

He ran up to the front door after he waved to David and his mom, and entered into his house. Closing the front door, Jackson called out to his mom and Robin as he ran up to his room on the second story. Opening the door to his room, he ran to his bed and set down the doll, his backpack and his coat on it. Grabbing the doll, he ran back down and heard the TV on in the basement. Darting to the basement door, he threw it open and ran down the steps, stopping when he entered the room. "Robin, I got you a doll like you wanted-" He stopped when he saw what was on the TV.

"-what they call a never-ending nightmare. Police are now investigating an attempted kidnapping at a local restaurant, where a man was trying to coerce a young child into leaving with him. Eyewitnesses interviewed on the scene assessed that the man, wearing dark clothes with sunglasses, approached a young child in the building that houses Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria, a popular location for children and teens to hang out or have birthday parties. From there, he attempted to bribe the child into following him outside the building with a item, possibly a piece of candy or a small toy, but when the child tried to refuse him, the man then became angry and began to advance on the child before a nearby adult spotted him and interfered. The stranger is now a suspect in the ongoing investigation behind the earlier kidnappings, and the pizzeria's management assures that they will be increasing their security for the safety of customers and their children. If anyone has any information on who the suspect may be, or any leads on the missing children, please call the police at-"

The TV clicked off before Jackson could say anything, and a figure on the couch stood up quickly, revealing it to be his mother. Tears streaked down her face as a sad relief rushed across her face at the sight of her son.


End file.
